Living in an energy economy is starkly obvious at the moment with gas and electricity prices soaring; with the potential for much more severe failing of the energy dependent, complex interdependent systems that form modern society. Logically, that could be understood by simple cause and effect of an energy dependent system that is not accessing enough, cheap, dense, surplus, energy to sustain its operations. As seems par for the course for the human brain; consequences hitting personally, are the means by which already prevalent crisis become conscious in public awareness. A rather sad reflection of the human species I will suggest.
The ABC this week has reported several stories related to the concurrent crisis’ of rising energy costs, uncertain electricity supply, climate change, concern of food shortages, rising inflation and rising interest rates, these are global phenomena not limited to Australia. What a mix! The ‘cost of living’ is increasing substantially, whilst the human induced climate crisis, an effect of a profligate energy use system and lifestyles, kicks down the door.
Here are some articles from other sources, that go where the ABC doesn’t, with some factual (and opinion) information amid them, that attempt to get closer to what the root cause of this energy crisis, rising inflation etc, might be. This energy crisis (and its effects) may not be a short term blip.
The severity of our current situation, and the probability of it worsening is, in my experience, not taken seriously; akin to not facing reality. Nevertheless, an understanding that cause and effect is reality allows the opportunity to learn and understand that continued denial of reality (whatever that may be) has compounding effects.
It is fascinating that the adage, we reap what we sow, is so widespread, and yet so little put into vital practice.
#229. In the Eye of the Perfect Storm – 2
https://www.resilience.org/stories/2022-06-09/what-people-dont-get-about-this-inflation-
https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2022/06/03/Inflation-Scarcity-Road-Survival
Literal insanity
Having rationally and objectively observed events unfold over the past 20 years to the severe level that they are now, whilst simultaneously having made every attempt humanly possible during that time, with family, friends, colleagues and acquaintances, to move their Culturally Determined deferral of responsibility, apathy, willful ignorance, victimhood and delusional childish narratives and stories in the direction of Adult Critical Thinking / effective responses to Scientific Facts, and having seen no change whatsoever in those people, I hold no promise for the future of the Human Species. Those who have uttered the words on numerous occasions to me, that – ‘I’ll worry about that if and when it happens’, or ‘no doubt the Universe is unfolding as it should’ – believing that it won’t happen in their lifetimes, are going to be the first to complain that ‘someone should have done something about that!’ Oh what a pathetically sad Species, one that simply does not deserve the label ‘sapient’…….
I will add, ‘People don’t want to ‘go back’, and ‘humans have always adapted, and my children will adapt’. I don’t think people see the privilege and what I’d call arrogance and conceit, in these perspectives. I like your Culturally Determined deferral of responsibility point. The question I have, is deferring the responsibility of the cause, so one’s children and grandchildren, have to assume the responsibility of dealing with the effect, nurturing and caring?
I will recognise here, that in 2017, following an awful climate change impact year environment wise in 2016, you sent me videos of climate change scientist Kevin Anderson, videos that were over an hour long. In my busyness of rare bags, and my own little world, I felt like I ‘didn’t have time’ to watch them. Another soft denial like ‘I’ll worry about that if and when it happens’. I’m thankful, that in my own brain and self I had something that could recognise how messed up that was. That I didn’t ‘have time’ to find out about something actually important. So I changed it, and made the time. Nothing changes in this very problematic human world, if the satisfaction of culturally determined responses and means of denial (as all your points illustrate I think) for comfort and convenience sake, remains. What of the curiosity and potential for one’s own sapience born with, instead?
What do you mean by ‘pathetically sad’?
“It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society”. Krishnamurti
Caring about our Children’s and Grandchildren’s futures, is something I’ve seen Kevin Anderson raise on numerous occasions, but it doesn’t make a dent in anyone’s behavior. I’ve talked about it frequently over the past 20 years, to family, friends, colleagues and acquaintances, same deal. So why doesn’t it make a dent? I’d suggest two things.
1) As a species, I would argue that we have not yet evolved beyond animalistic herd or tribal thinking. Our thinking / responses and reactions to events in our lives, largely takes place in our brains amygdala – our brains emotional centre. How we are raised, from birth (our cultural determinism) is mostly little more than an ‘animal management program’, a system constructed to ensure that our emotional thinking / reactions and responses, remain intact and paramount; but that they are kept under control by rewards, punishments, moralism’s, ethics, fairy tales, fears, hopes, laments, scapegoats, bogey men, magicians, soothsayers, witches, the concept of ‘free will’, theologian’s and the ultimate animal domestication managers – those who hide behind the supposedly innocuous term – ‘governments’. Within this system of management, Critical thinking (from our brains frontal cortex) is encouraged, but only if it falls within the confines of what’s ‘acceptable and can be ‘managed’ to ensure it ‘fits’ as it ‘should’ – namely: our ‘family structures’, ‘specializations’, ‘careers’ ‘finances’ and ‘investments’ etc. ‘We’ accept this, because the safety and security that the herd or tribe appears to offer us, seems a reasonable price to pay. Children raised (culturally determined) in this environment, will hardly blame their own parents / grandparents (as Kevin Anderson, James Hansen, Greta Thunberg and others suggest), for any climate change / environmental degradation catastrophe that befalls them, courtesy of their predecessors, simply because they believe in / have been indoctrinated with the same amygdala based delusions that their parents and grandparents have. Their parents and grandparents know this, which is why they can remain supremely confident and blaze about the fact that they will never be held accountable for the horrible future that their children / grandchildren inherit.
2) The amygdala always seeks simplistic, expedient responses to life’s events. Reality / facts are antithetical to that. Animalistic thinking is only concerned, just like cows, sheep, chickens, goats and pigs, with what’s on offer that will satisfy my physical and emotional desires ‘right now goddam-it!’ Why else would ‘consumption’ have proven to be such an enormous windfall for those who have successfully exploited it for profit?
So why does this sadden me? We have the potential for so much more, we have a frontal cortex in our brains that offers something much, much more, and yet we continue to choose to stay in our un-evolved state. We shun the hard work required to get beyond our simplistic animalistic choices, and this, just like every other non sapient animal, will lead us to extinction…..
…..So, with that understanding, we can take a look at your rhetorical question / the precise point you are hinting at re ‘caring and nurturing’. To me, the un-evolved animalistic behavior I outlined above, could never have its base in cause and effect (critical thinking), simply because any thinking that stems from the amygdala, will only ever be concerned with satisfying immediate animalistic mental and physical needs and comforts. It therefore logically follows that ‘caring and nurturing’ to a brain that operates primarily from the amygdala, will largely revolve around meeting those exact same immediate animalistic needs and comforts in our offspring. Cause and effect (critical) thinking from the frontal cortex, understanding future existential threats to our children’s lives for example, is a responsibility that we have largely abrogated to ‘governments’ and so called ‘elites’, which, to a brain that operates primarily from its amygdala, is pure heaven, because we can scapegoat them if something goes awry. (The point I made in my first comment).
To cover up our complete lack of responsibility for cause and effect (critical) thinking, especially when someone challenges the obvious disconnect between it and ‘caring and nurturing’ for our children’s future, we have a whole raft of elaborate emotional games, myths, narratives and stories, all designed to obfuscate and evade what we know to be true but won’t dare admit to. Trite expressions like ‘Luv You’ get tossed around ad nauseum, most likely because we are trying to convince ourselves that we really do ‘care’, whilst knowing deep within ourselves that we really don’t.
With this in mind, it begs the obvious question, what can be done to change this pathetically sad situation?
I think your point ‘convince ourselves that we really do ‘care’, whilst knowing deep within ourselves that we really don’t’, is a challenging and interesting suggestion. It will probably fire off some amygdala reactions if read. The idea that humans are essentially selfish creatures is something written about for millennia, but I suspect this is really only the case, as I think you’re also suggesting, if ruled by our amygdala, which houses all our learned associations and emotional meanings from our cultural determinism. At 19, I had a deep awareness – that I, nor anyone else, actually cared about each other, that the display of ‘care’ was a farce. As I had no other reference point, I felt something was wrong with me, the recognition was sufficiently difficult, that I remember a physical sensation of my hands pushing it down (in my mind)) and burying it. It was too much to confront.
About 7 years later, I had a different but similar awareness, that I wrote about in my journal at the time.
17 March 2004 – “Today, driving along past forest I thought ‘I love it’ but then I had a moment where I felt, honestly, no I don’t – I hate it. I hated it for a moment because it shows me my smallness and in that moment I think I glimpsed why humans have done (sic) the destruction of the planet. Because we see in it our smallness, our nothingness, and we have hated that. So create religion (and narratives) for meaning and destroy that which highlights the meaningless.”
I highlight these because I don’t believe I have some ‘special’ capacity for honest reflection of myself, so suspect others too may have experienced a deeper knowing within, that words, appearances and symbols of ‘care’, do not mean care, either received or ‘given’. It has taken several more extremely difficult life experiences for me to finally take my own observations and feelings about our species and individual lives seriously and beginning to incorporate them into how I live my own life.
The banality in the failure of imagination to envisage anything beyond what one’s amygdala has acquired in its culturally determined associations, meanings, learned attachments and animalistic gratifications may be the hallmark of our species. I agree, it’s pathetically sad.
In answer to your question. What can be done to change this pathetically sad situation? The miniature of the attitude, challenge and work, that the intergenerational, culturally determined psychologies and deferral of responsibility, ‘ends with me’.. That won’t change the broader outcome of what’s looking likely in the future, but it has effect, such is cause and effect. Any integrity to complex reality that replaces human banality, is a small triumph. Not deferring responsibility and responding to information sapiently, is an expression and action that gives some respect to the understanding that life is complex, interdependent, and ongoing, beyond the impacts in my own lifetime. To me, that is caring for others, known and unknown. It is movement from my own little world, to the reality of being part of the world, cause and effect. Pragmatically for one self, one may also become better equipped to, as Rudyard Kipling wrote “keep your head when all about you are losing theirs”..